How can I accept donations on my website with Square?

[BBDLLC]

I am setting up my online store, and would like to know how to setup online buying so that I can accept online payments.

[ryanwanner]

Hello @BBDLLC!

Setting up your online store is pretty easy with Square's built in Online Store platform. Be aware that the store is pretty limited in capability, so you may be more interested in some of Square's eCommerce partners. To see that list, go to Apps in your dashboard.

Assuming you're sticking with Square's online store, all you have to do is enable it to get started. Go to the Online Store section in your dashboard. Once you're in, there will be a URL at the top of the settings page (usually starts with squareup.com/store/[yourstore] ) that you can use on all your marketing material to drive business to your online store.

For adding items to the online store, go to your store editor and add items here. You can add items from the Item Library and import them on the store editor, but I've found it's a lot easier to create the item in the editor itself.

For donations, I'd recommend setting the Donation Item as an Electronic delivery method. That way you don't have to worry about the order expiring and the payment returned to the customer.

Usual payment flow is that a customer orders the item just like any other webstore out there. It will show as a sale immediately if you have Electronic items. If you use the Pickup or Delivery options, the order will show as a sale as soon as you complete the order and mark the order as completed in the online store (or the Point of Sale app).

For tracking sales from the online store, Square doesn't make it that easy. 🙂 On the reports section, you'll have to choose Display by Source. All Untracked Source sales are your online store.

Hope this helps!

[Helen]

Hey @BBDLLC and thank you for the detailed reply @ryanwanner! I just wanted to add that you can add a specific Donation item to your Square Online Store so that it's not treated as an item; when you add a Donation option you won't need to set a delivery method, and the preparation time isn't applied. There's more information about accepting donations from your Online Store in the Square Support Center. Hope this helps!